Pokemon: Son of Ash
by Temportal15
Summary: To those who plan on reading this story. I will be posting a new chapter every week on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. I apologize for the wide range on the posting schedule, but my schedule does not work well with my free time. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story! PS- some chapters will be longer than others or shorter, that is dependent on how much I can put into a chapter.
1. Chapter 1 - The Legacy of Ash

_**POKEMON:**_  
 _ **Son of Ash**_

CHAPTER 1 - _The Legacy of Ash_

 _It has been twenty-three years since Ash Ketchum has challenged the Kalos League and stood victorious at the top. He_ _'s done it, he's become the Pokémon Champion, his life goal has now been completed. After fulfilling his dream, he decided to take it easy and spend time with his Pokémon, meet up with his old friends, fulfill old promises. He has since been married to Serena for almost twelve years now, having a son and a daughter. Settling down in Pallet Town, his son is almost at the age to begin his journey and start a new story. The story of Ash's son begins now…_

Light filtered in through the curtains of the window to John Ketchum's room. A half packed backpack lay on the bed surrounded by stray clothes and camping supplies. Posters of legendary Pokémon hung on the walls. A computer sat near the window with a young man passed out on the keyboard. He had fair skin with brown hair that fell over his eyebrows. A knock reverberated through the room, waking John up. Brushing the hair out of his brown eyes, he noticed he had passed out at his computer again.

"Johnny!" a voice rang over the sound of the door swinging open. John looked over to see his sister Rachel standing in the doorway. She was five years old with short blonde hair that sat neatly on either side of her face, framing her face. Her most notable feature was her bright blue eyes. "Did you pass out at your computer screen again?" she continued without a pause.

"Yeah, I was running over the statistics of each possible starter Pokémon that I can get, looking into their advantages and disadvantages against each gym leader I might possibly meet" John said, returning to his computer screen, typing away. "So far I see that a Grass-type will help me with most of the first few gym leaders of each region dad went to."

"Wha?"

John sighed. "I am trying to decide which Pokemon to start with."

"Oh" Rachel said, "I'm going with the cute fox one like mommy did!"

"Mhmm, you do that Rachel." John said, not looking up from the computer. With a wide grin, Rachel started to turn away, pausing momentarily, remembering something important.

"I forget, daddy wants to talk to you" Rachel said, returning to skipping down the hall to her room.

John looked up, thinking about what his sister had just said.

'What could he want now?'

John walked down the staircase, to the first floor of the house. A living room with separate door to the kitchen lay to the left. A tv sat on one side with a couch on the opposite side. In the middle of the room, sunbathing slept a pink, dog-like Pokémon with pink bow and ribbon appendages.

'Mom's Sylveon,' John thought to himself, looking around the room for his father. The smell of pastries could be smelt coming from the kitchen, his mother hard at work making his birthday/going away cake for tomorrow. To his right, a closed wooden door leading to his father's study. John knocked on the door, awaiting to hear a reply from the other side.

'Nothing?' John thought, opening the door. It was a small room, having a simple desk with a computer on it. Walking around the desk, John remembered the countless nights he had spent in here, listening to his father's stories about his journey, about all the Pokémon he met, the friends he had made. On the desk sat three picture frames, the first being of John's parents at their wedding. Another picture to the right of that was a picture of Rachel, himself, Sylveon and a small yellow mouse with spiked ears and a lightning bolt tail. His father's best friend and first Pokémon, Pikachu.

The one other picture that sat on his father's desk was a picture of when he was John's age, surrounded by Pokémon of all different types and regions. This was all of the Pokémon that his father had caught and owned, most of which resided at the Oak Laboratory. John looked at the wall, which held all of his father's prized possessions from his journey. The Kalos League trophy, the Orange Islands Cup, various trinkets, half of a old PokéBall, and all of the badges he had collected.

'Just watch dad,' he thought to himself, 'I will collect all of the league trophies.'

Walking into the kitchen he saw his mother pulling the cake out of the oven. She had honey colored hair that reached just past her shoulders with blue eyes. A small panda Pokémon with red sunglasses was rolling dough on the counter next to her.

"Hi mom, hi Pancham." John said, making his presence known.

"Good morning, John" she said, smiling at him, "Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"I'm looking forward to it," he said, looking around the room. Pots and pans sat in the sink, cook books opened to various pages, powder all over the countertop. "Have you seen dad? Rachel told me he wanted to talk to me."

"Hmm… I think he and Pikachu went to Oak Laboratories this morning, said he was helping Professor Oak with a new Pokédex. He should still be there now if you want to go. Do you remember how to get there?"

"Yes mom, it's like four houses down from here."

"Okay," she said, returning back to the cake she had been working on. "Tell your father that we need some milk before he comes home."

John nodded his head, turned around and took off for Oak Laboratories.

It wasn't a long walk before he saw the wind turbine in the distance, signifying that it was Oak Laboratories. It was a decent sized building with a large property in the back, filled with many Pokémon. Walking through the front door, he saw a yellow light flicker behind the second door. Curiously, he opened it to look inside. His father's Pikachu was using an electric attack at a machine that seemed to be absorbing and redirecting the electric energy into a weird looking watch. This watch was square shaped with a red and black color scheme. From what John could gather, it had three buttons on the side, a small screen, and a smaller black circle above the screen. Looking behind Pikachu, he saw his father, a tall man with black hair and brown eyes. He was always wearing a baseball cap and had a small collection of them back in his room. Standing next to him was a tall man with brown spiked out hair, black eyes, and a goatee that matched his hair. He was wearing a white lab coat and had his hands in the coat pockets. This was Professor Oak, or as his father called him, Gary.

"John, what are you doing here?" his father asked as Pikachu's attack died out.

"Rachel told me you wanted to talk to me, and mom says we need milk." John said calmly. His father thought for a moment, and then realization dawned on him.

"Oh right," he said, allowing Pikachu to climb onto his shoulder. "I wanted to talk with you about your journey tomorrow. You were asleep earlier, so I decided to let you sleep and came to the lab to help Gary out on his newest creation."

Gary rolled his eyes, "Ash, it's Professor Oak when I'm at work."

"Oh right, sorry Gar… I mean Professor."

"But your father is right, I needed his help with a project," Professor Oak continued on, "and we actually just finished. Would you like to see it?" John nodded in agreement.

Gary walked over to the watch that had been attached to the machine and picked it up, holding a single strap between his fingers while letting the rest fall.

"Can you guess what this is?" Gary asked, grinning with delight.

"It's a watch?" John replied, confused by the question. Now Gary's grin turned into a smile.

"It's more than a watch, John." he said, putting the watch on. "It is the newest and latest design for the Pokédex!"

"How can that be a Pokédex?" John asked, taking a closer look, "It looks a little small to be able to hold all the information of every Pokémon out there."

"Inside the watch is a microchip that has the ability to store vast amounts of data," Gary said with a smile, "right now it has data on every known Pokémon and it's only using a quarter of the available memory space."

"Okay, so how does it work?"

"So you want to have the black circle above the screen," Gary began, "there is a scanner on that side. Next, you press the first button at the top, that activates the scanner." As he was saying this, he was performing an example with Pikachu. "Once you're all set, just click the button." The watch Pokédex came to life, an image of Pikachu appeared on the screen.

*Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Their checks are able to store electricity that can be used by pressing down on them.*

"That's pretty cool," John said, "so what are the other buttons for?"

"The second button is for making calls, it uses a hologram projector so you can see the other person, useful for traveling trainers who want to see their families," Gary said, pointing at the buttons, "and the third button is for seeing the six Pokémon you have on you, this lets you see how much health they have and if they have a status ailment."

"It's definitely a big help," John's dad said, "when I was your age, we had a Pokédex the size of a small notebook."

"And I figured since we have a model already made and plan on making more for the future trainers," Gary said, unlatching the watch from his wrist, "that this will be your birthday gift and Pokédex for your journey." Gary stretched his arm to John, holding the Pokédex watch in it. John held out his hands and Gary placed the watch in his hands.

"Wow, thank you so much, Uncle Gary!" John said, placing the watch on his left wrist. Gary rolled his eyes again.

"John, it's Professor Oak when I am at work…" Gary turned to glare at Ash, "This is your doing."

After dinner and celebrating, John retreated to his room to continue his research on starter Pokémon. The watch, placed on his now fully packed bag, sat in the corner of the room next to the door. A knock on the door took John's mind away from the computer screen. He turned around to see his father opening the door, with Pikachu still on his shoulder.

"Hey John, got a minute?" he asked, walking over to the bed.

"Sure, what's up dad?" John said, returning his gaze to the computer screen. His father sat on the end of the bed, petting Pikachu's chin.

"It's about your journey tomorrow," John stopped what he was doing and turned to look at his father. "now, I know you will be going out there with just your starting Pokémon much like your mother and I. And I also know how you like to go at things alone."

John thought for a moment, and it was true. In the past, he never asked for help when things got tough, relying upon his own abilities to counter any difficulties.

"But you will make friends, and you'll make a lot of Pokémon friends as well, they are partners that will be there for you through everything."

"Dad, they are Pokémon." John said calmly. They had been over this before and John didn't understand why his father couldn't see this. "They obey orders without question, and they don't pose much of a threat if you know the type advantage."

"John, they don't obey without question, my Charizard never listened to me until I gained his trust." his father said, standing up. "They aren't items for you to use, they are your partners and your friends."

"They are Pokémon, if they don't obey me, then I won't use them." John said, also standing up. "A Pokémon that doesn't obey it's trainer is not a Pokémon worth using, much like weaker Pokémon."

His father was getting frustrated now. "There is no such thing as a weak Pokémon, John! Every Pokémon has potential, and every Pokémon is worth it! That bond of trust and friendship is what makes them strong!"

"So is that why half of your Pokémon never evolved?" John replied coldly. His father was angry, his Pokémon were getting insulted and his son thought of Pokémon as tools. But he relaxed, he had to, it was his son and he couldn't lose him over an argument right before his son's journey.

"Get some sleep, you have an early day ahead of you tomorrow." he said, turning around to leave the room. As he got to the door, he stopped and turned his head. "You know, I knew a guy when I traveled through Sinnoh, he thought the same thing you did. I was able to change his views during our final battle. I'm hoping this journey will do the same to you." And with that, he walked out of the room and shut the door.

John stood there for a moment, looking at the door in disbelief. He had never heard about his father's rival in the Sinnoh region. Trying to get past this, John quickly returned to his computer screen, measuring the usefulness of each Grass type starter Pokémon.


	2. Chapter 2 - Turning Over a New Leaf

CHAPTER 2 - _Turning Over a New Leaf_

"Johnny! Johnny, wake up!" John's eyes opened slowly, his face laying across his keyboard. He looked up to see Rachel standing over him, shaking him awake.

"Rachel?" he groggily said, "What are you doing?" 

"Waking you up! You slept in!" she exclaimed, pulling him by the arm out of the computer chair. John's eyes widened, looking wildly for a clock. The Partner Selection ceremony began at ten o'clock, the time was ten twenty three.

"Oh no!" John yelled, running around his room, grabbing clothes frantically. "This cannot be happening to me!"

"You're just like daddy!" Rachel said, grinning widely. It was true, his father had overslept and showed up late to get his Pokémon. That's how he meet Pikachu, and he says it was one of the best things to ever for John, he wanted to be there first, so that he could get the Pokemon that he wanted.

"I know!" John hissed, struggling to put on his shirt. Rachel's smile slowly slipped off her face. "I'm sorry, I'm just upset that I'm late, I wanted to get there first." John quickly added, seeing her face. Rachel's smile quickly returned to her face.

"It's okay," she said happily, "I don't like being late for my tea party, so it's okay." Shock overtook her expression, "I'm late for my tea party!" With that, she hurried out the door, chanting her tea time song as she went. John finished tying his last shoe, getting up and grabbing the Pokédex watch and bag. He looked back to the computer screen one last time before he headed out the door. On the computer screen, there was a small bipedal lizard with a thick tail, red stomach and yellow slit eyes.

'Wait for me, Treecko,' he thought to himself, running out the door, 'I will be there soon.'

The automatic doors slid open, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. Gary Oak smiled to himself from the front of the crowd.

'Like father, like son,' he thought to himself, watching John Ketchum hastily throw his bag down and rush over to the group.

"Sorry I'm late, Uncl… I mean Professor Gary!" John said out of breath.

'Must have run all the way here,' Gary thought, 'must have already decided which starter he wants to have.'

"That's quite alright, John." he said calmly, "We haven't gotten around to the first Pokémon yet. We were just discussing the Pokédex watch, you have yours, correct?" John nodded, holding up his wrist.

'So there is still a chance,' John thought to himself, 'but why wait this long to hand out the starters?'

"Now, since we have everyone here, it's almost time to get to meeting your first Pokémon." Gary said, only to be interrupted by a boy around John's height. He had light brown hair, pale skin, and eyes the color of the sea. John recognized him from around town, but they never met. "Ah, sorry Alex. I forgot about your special circumstance." John looked over to see a small brown fox looking Pokémon with bunny like ears and a bushy tail. It had big, brown eyes that darted around the room, looking on in amazement.

'An Eevee?' John thought curiously, 'How does he have an Eevee already?'

"For most of you, this will be the time where you meet your first Pokémon." Gary continued, "As all of you are aware, in my time, we were allowed a choice of three. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. A few years after I became a Pokémon Professor, the Pokémon League allowed beginning trainers to select any of the starting Pokémon from any of the six regions. But this year, the Pokémon League decided to make an interesting change." Confusion arose from the small crowd of trainers. Everyone started whispering to themselves, wondering what kind of change they could make. Some were worrying that the League would return the rules to how they were when the Professor was younger.

"What's the rule change?" a brave voice said from the middle of the crowd. Gary ushered the group to follow him down a hallway behind him.

"The Pokémon League thought that a trainers first Pokémon should not be limited to select Pokémon," Gary said, walking three steps ahead of the group. "that a trainer should be able to not only choose who their first Pokémon is," he opened a door and had the group walk through first. Inside was a massive greenhouse with a forest, desert, and lake inside. Pokémon roamed around freely, playing with each other. When the group walked in, all of the Pokémon in view ran off in the other direction, either diving into the lake or running to the forest and desert. The group looked around in amazement as Gary Oak continued, "but also be allowed to catch them first."

"Wait," Alex said, "we are suppose to catch them?" He looked to the Professor.

"Exactly," Gary said, "you are to catch your partner."

"How are we suppose to do that?" a girl asked, "Everyone knows that in order to catch a Pokémon, you have to weaken it first. Without that, they can break out of the PokéBall." Gary smiled, walking over to a picnic table. There were a bunch of small red and white balls on it.

"The Pokémon in this facility are all low level, a simple Pokéball will catch them if you hit them with it." Gary said, picking up one of the balls. Clicking on the smaller circle, the ball expanded to a baseball. "Everyone come over here and collect a single Pokéball, there is enough for everyone."

"So when do we start?" John asked, eager to start looking for Treecko.

"The bell will chime at eleven o' clock, after that you will have two hours to catch your new friend." Gary said, "Until then, relax a little bit and ask me any question that you may have." Time went by, questions were answered and then they just relaxed in the sun until two minutes before eleven.

"Alright, two minutes until eleven, everyone ready?" Gary asked, standing up in front of the group. The group stood up and stretched, eager to get started. John looked intently toward the forest.

'That is where Treecko would be, so that is where I will be going first.' he thought to himself, turning his gaze to the group, 'I can probably outrun these other kids and get to the forest first.' A brown flash caught his eyes, Alex's Eevee was jumping around, eager to move around through the field. A bell chimed, pulling John back to his senses as the group ran forward.

'Son of a Bisharp!' he thought to himself, running after a small group to the forest, 'That Eevee distracted me!' He ran fast, his heart beating a mile a minute in his chest, legs pumping even faster to reach the forest. 'Please be there, please be there…'

About fifty minutes had passed in the forest with still no sign of the Treecko John has been looking for. He saw it once when he first entered the forest, but it darted away quickly into the depths.

'How deep does this forest go?' John thought to himself, looking around. A snapping sound came from behind him, causing him to whip around with Pokéball in hand in case it was Treecko.

"Woah woah woah! Relax man!" Alex said, holding his hands up defensively. John relaxed, lowering the Pokéball to his side.

"Alex," he said, giving him a stern look, "you make too much noise. You're going to scare away every Pokémon in a twenty five meter area."

"Oh… Sorry… John was it?" Alex asked. John nodded in confirmation. "I'll try to be quieter." John proceeded to turn around, looking into the trees. He wished he had climbed more trees when he was younger. "What are you doing this far into the forest?"

"I'm looking for a Treecko, I saw one earlier and I want to catch it." John replied, still looking into the trees. "What about you?"

"Eevee ran this way, urging me to follow." Alex said, kneeling down to pet the little fox Pokémon. "I trust Eevee more than anything, so naturally I went." John snorted. "What?"

"You trust a Pokémon to make a decision this important for you?" John replied, looking back to him.

"Of course. Eevee is my friend, and I trust him." Alex replied, holding the little Pokémon as he stood up. "What do you have about trusting a Pokémon?" John sighed.

"Pokémon are not friends, they are animals used for battle. No more than that." John replied coldly.

"Wow, you are nothing like your father." Alex said. John tried to reply, but was cut off by the sound of rustling leaves. John and Alex looked up to see the Treecko he has been following leaping down from the branches to a bush with pink berries on it. John reached for the Pokéball again, moving slowly so as not to scare it off again.

"What is that?" Alex asked, raising his Pokédex watch to scan it.

* _Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. Numerous tiny spikes cover the bottoms of Treecko's feet, allowing it to walk on ceilings and walls._ *

"Why would you do that!?" John yelled, throwing the ball at the now panicked Treecko. It dodged out of the way, the ball sailing into the bushes. John watched as the Treecko leapt into the branches and darting into the dark. John whipped around to Alex, who just stood there. "Why? I have been tracking that thing for an hour now! And just when I'm about to catch it, you have to collect data on it!"

"Uhh, John…" Alex began.

"No, just no." John cut in, walking over to the bush. "I almost had it, I was this close." he said, making a pinching motion to Alex. The Pokéball was behind the bush, sitting next to a half eaten berry. "It was having lunch! I could have caught it off guard!"

"John, the Pokéball…"

"The Pokéball missed! I'm aware!" John hissed. "Just stay here or go somewhere else, I have to catch that Treecko." With that, John ran off into the woods, leaving Alex and his Eevee behind.

"Twenty minutes left," John said to himself, looking at the Pokédex watch. "and I still haven't seen that Treecko anywhere." He sat down on a log, taking out his water bottle to rehydrate. "I need to find this Treecko or I'm going to go crazy." A rustle in the bushes alerted John to something nearby. He jumped up and spun around, the Pokéball in hand, ready to throw.

"Take it easy!" Alex yelled. "Are you going to do this to me every time?"

"Ugh…" John groaned. "What do you want?"

"It's about your Pokéball, you see…"

"Will you stop reminding me, I missed! I know that!" John snapped. "Why are you still following me? Are you trying to snatch this Treecko from me!?"

"Woah woah woah! Relax!" Alex exclaimed, shaking his hands in front of him. "I already caught my Pokémon." He pulled out his Pokéball and tossed it into the air. It opened with a flash of light, sending a crackle of white energy onto the ground. A small Pokémon with a snout stood on the ground where the energy was. It had a beige underbody and bluish-green fur on the top with four red spots on it's back. "See?"

"A Cyndaquil?" John asked, pointing his Pokédex to it.

* _Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Normally mild and even tempered, Cyndaquil will shoot a scorching flame out of its back when upset._ *

"Yep!" Alex said, smiling slightly. "He's my second Pokémon now."

"Nice, except he won't help you much against the Rock type Gym." John replied, sitting back on the log. Alex's smile faded.

"I don't care," he replied, "he's my new friend."

"Uh-huh, you and your friends will go nowhere real fast." John said, putting the cap back on his water bottle.

"What's your problem, anyways?" Alex said, anger rising in his voice. "You are the son of Ash Ketchum, yet you act like my dad when he was younger." Shock overtook John's face. He stood up and looked at Alex.

"Your father is Paul!?" John asked.

"How do you know my father?"

"He was one of my dad's rivals!" John replied. A rustle from the bushes once again caught John's attention, the Treecko was standing in near the bushes.

"Now's my chance! Don't screw this up for me!" John said, shooting a warning glance at Alex. John threw the Pokéball at the Treecko.

'This is it! I have you now!' John thought. And then the Pokéball opened up with a flash of light. A crackle of white energy landed on the ground. In the energy's place, stood a small green Pokémon. It had two stubs for legs, a small yellow face with little eyes and a smile. It looked like a rose bud. Surprise once again found it's place on John's face.

"What is that!?" John exclaimed, pointing his Pokédex at it.

* _Budew, the Bud Pokémon. In winter, it keeps its bud closed to survive the cold, but then opens it again in the spring._ *

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Alex said in the background. "When your Pokéball flew into the bushes, it flashed red. You mush have caught that Budew."

"How could this happen!?" John said, holding his head. "Why are there more than Starter Pokémon in this area!?"

"The Professor said it would be nice to include other Pokémon." Alex said, looking into the bushes.

"This is a mistake, this cannot be my Pokémon." John said to himself, thinking about how to release it to catch the Treecko.

"Uh, John. We have bigger problems." Alex said, fear rising in his voice. John looked over to see a rhinoceros looking Pokémon made of stone plates. It had small red eyes, and a large skull.

"It's a Rhyhorn." John said, getting up slowly. "Don't make any loud noises or it will charge." Too late.

* _Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon. Rhyhorn recklessly charges straight ahead, trampling over anything that gets in its way._ *

The Rhyhorn looked over to them, scrapping its feet against the ground, preparing to charge.

"Can you not scan every Pokémon you see!?" John said, scolding Alex. The Rhyhorn took off, charging towards John and Alex. They dove out of the way just in time, the Rhyhorn running straight into the log, smashing it to splinters.

"John! We need to get out of here!" Alex yelled, picking up his Cyndaquil and Eevee.

"We can't outrun a Rhyhorn!" John yelled back, "We have to fight it!"

"Are you insane!?" Alex yelled. The Rhyhorn had turned around and started charging at them again. They yet again dodged in time, this time the Rhyhorn smashing a boulder to tiny pebbles. "Look how strong that thing is!"

"I am aware of how strong it is!" John snapped back, the Rhyhorn shaking its head and turning to face them. "But we can't keep this up forever!" John looked over to the Budew, the Treecko was also there. The Budew looked scared, it had never seen this Pokémon before.

"Budew's a Grass type, we have advantage there." John said, turning back to Alex.

"John! Move!" Alex screamed, over the thundering noise. John turned to see the Rhyhorn charging straight at him. There was no time to move, he was done for. A flash of brown landed in front of John, Alex's Eevee.

"Eevee! Protect!" Alex screamed. Eevee stood firm, raising it's head. A dome of green energy surrounded it and John. The Rhyhorn hit the dome with full force, falling flat in front of them.

"Thanks Alex!" John said, giving a thumbs up in his direction.

"No problem," Alex said before turning to his Cyndaquil. "Cyndaquil, use Smokescreen!" The little fire mouse opened its mouth and spewed a thick black cloud over the area. John couldn't see a thing. A hand grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the area.

They emerged from the forest, sunlight hurting their eyes after so long in the dim lit forest. Gary Oak and the group stood in shock as John, Alex and their Pokémon walked over to them, covered in soot, mud and leaves.

"What happened to you two?" Gary asked, looking them down from head to toe.

"We ran into a Rhyhorn," John said, turning to Alex. "Alex was able to get us out of there." Alex smiled, dusting himself off.

"It wasn't just me, I had the help of my Eevee and Cyndaquil"

"Interesting," Gary said. "it seems as though you already have a good bond with that Cyndaquil." He then turned to the Budew that followed behind John. "And who might this be?" John looked down to the Bud Pokémon by his leg.

"This is Budew… I caught it by accident." John said, disappointment in his voice. "I want to release it and have the Treecko." Gary frowned.

"John, you can't release this Pokémon. He is your first one, and I cannot trade you a Pokémon that another trainer already caught."

"What?" John asked. A small boy holding the very Treecko John had been chasing walked up behind Gary. "How did he catch him? And how did he get here before us?"

"Michael followed both of you into the forest, he then cut through the desert and ran all the way here." Gary said.

"Well can I trade the Budew for another Pokémon?"

"I'm sorry John, but you cannot trade that Budew. That is your first Pokémon." Gary apologized.

"But it didn't even fight! It was too afraid to do anything!" John replied.

"You didn't believe in it, that's why it didn't do anything." Gary said, "Budew are a special species of Pokémon that can judge the friendship between it and it's owner. In order for you to use Budew and get it to battle for you, you need to treat it as a partner and not just an object." John looked down at the ground, anger welling inside of him. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy John, that's just how it is."

"Fine." John said, trying to calm down. "I will keep the Budew." He pulled out the Pokéball and pointed it at the Budew. "Return." A beam of red light shot out of the Pokéball at the Budew, turning it into red energy that disappeared into the Pokéball.

"Great." Gary said, turning back to the group. "And with that, you all have Pokémon! Go forth and enjoy your journey!"


	3. Chapter 3 - First Step of the Journey

CHAPTER 3 - _First Step of the Journey_

"Budew for trade! Trading a Budew! Who wants it!?" John yelled, standing outside the Pokémon Center. It was a medium sized two floor building with a red roof. John had made it to Viridian City in three hours and had been standing there for half an hour now.

'At this rate, I'm gonna be stuck with this thing until I reach the next town…' John thought to himself, watching yet another person walk away.

"Hey John!" a familiar voice came from the behind him. John turned around to see Alex.

"Ugh…" John groaned, "Do you ever stop following me?"

"Well, that's not nice…" Alex said, holding out a small electronic looking square. "This is for you."

"What is it?" John replied, looking at it.

"It's an upgrade to your watch." Alex said putting the chip in John's hand. "Your father wanted you to have it before you left, but you ran off before he got there. It's a Map App that he and the Professor designed a while ago."

"If they made it a while ago, then why didn't they already have it in the watch?" John asked, inserting the chip into the bottom of his watch.

"I said designed, not made." Alex replied, "They finished it up when we were all catching our friends."

"Pokémon, not friends." John coldly corrected.

"Friends, John. They are friends." Alex replied, turning to leave. "You're not going to get anywhere with that attitude towards them." With that, Alex walked down the street as John watched.

'What does he know,' John thought to himself, turning back to the busy sidewalk. 'They're just Pokémon.'

"You there!" a voice called out. John turned to look for the source. A tall woman with blue hair and a police uniform on stood there, hands on her hips, just staring at him.

"Yes?" John replied.

"Are you the one trying to trade a Budew?" she asked. John's face lit up, maybe she wanted to trade with him.

"Yes, yes I am."

"My name is Officer Jenny, a police officer. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premise unless you are healing your Pokémon at the Pokémon Center."

"Under what grounds?" John replied shocked.

"You cannot market Pokémon for trade unless you have two or more Pokémon! Also it is against guidelines to try to trade with people on the streets!" she said, still staring him down.

"Fine," John replied, regaining his calm composure, "I will just go to the Viridian Forest and catch another Pokémon so that I can trade this Budew."

"Before you go, why are you trying to trade that Budew?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Because I caught it by mistake." John replied. Before she could say another word, John turned and began for Viridian Forest.

Hours went by, the sun had already set. John had still seen no sign of Pokémon in this forest. His intention was to at least catch something and then go try to trade the Budew again in the Viridian City Pokémon Center. Much like the hunt for the Treecko, he was having no luck.

'Just my luck,' John said, fishing his flashlight out of his backpack, 'I go looking for a Pokémon in a forest filled with Pokémon and I don't find any.' He flipped the switch to his flashlight, nothing happened. He unscrewed the cap and looked inside. No batteries. 'And I forgot to put batteries in the flashlight… Great…' He continued walking, moving slow with his arms outstretched so he wouldn't walk into anything. After stumbling in the dark for what seemed like forever, a light in the distance drew him in.

'Oh, a campfire!' John thought to himself. He started, and then stopped for a moment. 'Wait, what if that is Alex again… I don't want to hear him tell me about how Pokémon are friends… Ah forget it.' He started toward the fire once more, making sure not to trip over anything. He stepped on a small branch, snapping it with a crack that reverberated through the quiet forest.

"Who's there!?" a female voice shouted out into the dark. Not the voice John was expecting.

"Relax," John replied, stepping into the light, "I'm just a traveling trainer." The owner of the voice was a girl with amber eyes and dark red hair. She wore jeans and an unzipped, red sweatshirt over a black t-shirt.

"Never seen you before, who are you?" she replied, holding a stick as long as her in her hands, pointed at John.

"My name is John, I got lost in the woods." he said, paying close attention to the stick.

"And I'm suppose to believe that?"

"Not likely, but this is a Pokédex." John replied, holding his watch out.

"That's not a Pokédex, that's a watch…" the girl said, eyeing the watch. John pushed a button, activating the hologram. A holographic card appeared with a picture of John and other bits of data along with eight empty boxes.

* _This Pokédex is assigned to John Ketchum, a trainer from Pallet Town. Current Trainer Level: One. Current Number of Pokémon Owned: One.*_

"I've never seen a Pokédex look like that before… and Ketchum? Like Ash Ketchum?" the girl replied.

"It's new," John replied, lowering his arm. "and yes, he's my father."

"Wow, so you're the son of a legend!" the girl said, dropping the stick. She scrambled over to a log by the fire, patting one side for John to sit.

"Not so fast," John said, "I know nothing about you, what's your name?"

"Oh, my name's Stephanie, Stephanie Burns. Not much of a legacy with me, just the daughter of a gym leader." she replied.

"Which gym leader? There's a lot of them."

"Flannery," Stephanie replied. "She runs the Fire type gym in the Hoenn region. I got sent to Kanto to start my journey. I couldn't find Professor Oak's lab, so I wandered around for a while…" John sat down on the log next to her, holding his hands out to the fire in front of him.

"So I presume you plan on being a Fire type trainer like your mother?"

"Oh no, I want to be a Dark type gym leader, first one." Stephanie said, looking into the sky. "That's why I caught this guy as my starter." She pulled a Pokéball out of her sweatshirt pocket and threw it into the air. It exploded with a white energy that landed on the ground. When the light faded, a small frog like Pokémon with a bubble scarf and big eyes, it was light blue in color.

"Huh, a Froakie. Not a bad choice, since Greninja is a water and a dark type." John said, looking at the frog.

"How do you know that without using the Pokédex?" Stephanie asked, pointing to his wrist.

"I know everything about types and starters. I already had the Pokémon I wanted mapped out before I was eight. It was a perfect team." John said, tossing his Pokéball into the air. A flash of white and Budew was standing next to the Froakie. "At least until this thing messed it all up…"

"A Budew? That's your first Pokémon?" Stephanie asked. John nodded.

"I wanted a Treecko." John began, "but I missed and caught this thing. It doesn't battle, it's too scared to do anything. I've been trying to get rid of it, but I can't trade it without catching another Pokémon."

"I see." Stephanie yawned. "It's getting late though, so I'm gonna pass out. You are welcome to stay the night." With that, she got up and walked over to her backpack, pulling out a sleeping bag.

"Thank you." John said, taking his own sleeping bag out. "Night Stephanie."

"Night."

John woke to the sound of birds overhead. The sun was high in the sky by now. His body felt sore from sleeping on the ground last night. He looked around, Stephanie was nowhere in sight.

'Must have left while I was sleeping,' John thought to himself, rubbing his head. He stopped. Something wasn't right. He looked around, the Budew was still there, annoying John. His backpack. He turned over to see his backpack untouched since last night.

'Something is wrong, I know it…' John said, crossing his arms. He looked down to see his wrists. No Pokédex. He jumped up, staring at the wrist where his Pokédex was. It was gone.

"John?" a voice asked from behind him. John picked up a burnt piece of wood from the already dead fire, spinning around ready to throw it. "Woah woah woah! It's me, John!"

"Alex! Did you see a girl!?" John asked, hastily throwing his sleeping bag into his backpack.

"No, why?" Alex asked, confused. John held up his wrist which should have had his Pokédex on it.

"She took my Pokédex!" John announced.

"Oh!" Alex exclaimed. "Where did she go?"

"That's what I just asked you!" John hissed, zipping his backpack up and throwing it on his back. "We have to go now, maybe we can find her."

"John, your Budew." Alex said, pointing at the still sleeping Pokémon. John angrily pulled out the Pokéball, pointing it at the Bud Pokémon. A red beam shot out a the Pokémon, turning it to red energy. It soon after returned to the Pokéball. "Wait, what's this?" John looked to Alex, who had kneeled to the ground, picking up a piece of paper.

"What is that?" John said, snatching it out of Alex's hands, unfolding it.

 _John, I am taking your Pokédex. You don't need it as much as I do. Also I prefer Steph, not Stephanie, sorry I didn't tell you that. Anyways, so long._

"That little…" John growled between clenched teeth, crushing the note in his hand. "I'm going to make her pay for this!" With that he ran off into the woods.

"John! Wait!" Alex called out, chasing after him. "That's not the way to Viridian City!"


	4. Chapter 4 - A Game of Hide & Seek

CHAPTER 4 - _A Game of Hide & Seek_

Two hours had gone by with John crashing through the woods with Alex chasing close behind. Since he had started off, John had not seen that red haired girl that made off with his Pokédex.

"John, are you done running yet?" Alex panted, "We need to take a break." John stopped, turning back to Alex who just managed to stop before he collided with him.

"Did you find her?" John asked rhetorically, "If not, then we don't stop." John turned to run again. Alex grabbed him by the arm and help on tight.

"John, you need to stop."

"Alex, you need to let my arm go."

"Just listen for a minute!" Alex exclaimed, startling John. "You keep running that way and you'll never get out of this forest! Think about it; where would a girl with a Froakie and a Pokédex run off to? Not this way, not to Viridian City, perhaps North to Pewter City."

"Hmm…" John thought for a moment. Alex did have a point, it would only make sense for a trainer to get a gym badge. "Alright, which way to Pewter City?"

"That way," Alex said, pointing to his left. "or maybe that way?" he added, pointing behind him.

"Are you serious right now?" John said, exhaling.

"Well I'm not the one who ran off into the woods in a random direction." Alex quipped, tapping on the Pokédex. A transparent blue holographic map appeared above it. Orange dots and green dots were scattered across it, two red dots were also on the map.

"What are the different dots?" John asked, looking at the map.

"The green dots represent cities and towns, and the orange dots represent a gym. As for the red dots, I think they represent us."

"If so, then why is there a Red dot over here?" John said, poking at the screen where the red dot was. It flashed for a moment and then an information box expanded next to it, listing off a bunch of information. "Wait a minute… this is my information!"

"Huh," Alex replied, "so clicking on it will tell you information about it…" John grabbed him by the shirt.

"You mean to tell me that not only do you somehow have my Pokédex recorded in your map, but you could have tracked it the whole time!?"

"Easy man!" Alex said, swatting John's hand away. "This is the first time I've opened this app up! I didn't even know how to work this thing before Professor Oak told me about the different color dots!"

"Well whatever," John said, "so we can track her with this. So where is she now?"

"Well it looks like she's in Pewter City," Alex said, clicking on the orange dot. The map zoomed in on that dot, becoming a map of Pewter city. A building was highlighted pink, another was highlighted dark blue, and a large building was highlighted orange. "the Pokémon Center to be more exact." he said, pointing at the pink building.

"Alright, so we head this way to Pewter City and corner her in public. That way she can't back out of it." John said, turning to leave.

"Uhh, John?" Alex said.

"What?"

"We still don't know which way North is…"

"We'll do this old school," John said, fishing through his bag. He pulled out a small, flat metal cylinder. "I have a compass." He flipped it open and held it as flat as he could. The needle spun to his left. "North is this way," he said, pocketing the compass, "try to keep up this time."

The sun was starting to go down when John stopped to pull out the compass. He was still heading North.

"Hey Alex," he called behind him, "how much further until Pewter City?"

"Umm… looks like another kilometer or so." Alex said, looking at the map. "Should we camp here for the night, or should we keep moving?"

"Let's keep moving," John said, pocketing the compass. "we're almost there anyways."

"Who are you!?" a low voice boomed through the darkness. John and Alex both jumped.

"Who's there!?" Alex yelled back.

"I ask you first!" the voice boomed back.

"Are you serious?" John replied. "We don't have time for this, show yourself!" A scuffle came from the bushes in front of them, and then a short old man appeared, lighting a lantern. He had a gray bushy beard and bushy gray eyebrows that covered his eyes. He had no hair on his head and wore a brown tunic and no shoes. The lantern was hung from a walking stick twice his size.

"I am Bartholomew. I am the leader of the Viridian Forest Tribe." the man said, his voice low but no longer booming through the forest. "Now who might you be?"

"Hello, my name's Alex, this is my friend John. We are rookie trainers from Pallet Town." John could have sworn he saw a gleam from one of Bartholomew's eyes.

"Oho, Trainers from Pallet Town, you say? Well welcome to Viridian Forest. I apologize if I startled you earlier."

"Oh no, it's fine," Alex continued. "but we should get going, it's getting dark out and we need to get to Pewter City."

"Oho, not so fast younglings," Bartholomew said.

'Younglings?' John thought to himself

"It'll be dark soon; that's when the forest comes alive. It's not safe to travel on at this hour. Why not spend the night in my village? In the morning you can head on."

"That sounds nice, but we have our Pokémon to protect us," Alex began.

"Nonsense!" Bartholomew continued on, "I insist you stay the night, we shall have a feast and celebrate two younglings beginning their adventure!" As he said this, he walked over to John and Alex. He then proceeded to push both of them with inhuman strength towards the bushes he had recently walked though.

They walked through the trees for a good five minutes before seeing any other light than the lantern. The woods opened up slightly, revealing a large wall made of logs. Lights lit up the dark sky from atop the wall of logs. A drawbridge had been left down, revealing several small huts inside. As they crossed over the drawbridge, two men wearing brown tunics stood on either side of the opening behind the wall. Once they had safely crossed over the bridge, they began cranking a level with gears and rope, pulling the drawbridge up. There was a larger building behind the smaller huts that had three different holes in the roof, letting smoke escape.

"Welcome to the Viridian Forest Tribe!" Bartholomew said, walking in between John and Alex. Pointing to the big building, "That's the mess hall, we shall be having our feast in there. I'll go tell the cooks to prepare the feast, you can follow Timothy over there to the watering hole where you can wash up." With that, he walked away to the mess hall as a man with shaggy brown hair over his eyes with nothing but a brown tunic on escorted them to a square hut. Alex and John walked inside to see a medium sized pool with soaps inside.

"Doesn't this seem a bit weird?" John asked Alex, who had already begun getting undressed.

"Not really, in other places people normally share the same bathing hole." Alex said, removing his shirt.

"Not that, you Charitard." John replied, "I mean this village. It didn't even show up on your map. Also why is everyone wearing a brown tunic?"

"Yeah, that's weird, but they were nice enough to invite us in for the night and are feeding us, I can't say no to free food." Alex replied, climbing into the pool.

"You would be so easy to kidnap…" John said, taking off his shirt.

Dinner was served at a large table that sat all members of the tribe. The food consisted of what appeared to be vegetable soup and fresh fruits.

"Uhh… Where's the meat?" Alex asked Bartholomew. John and Alex were positioned right next to Bartholomew who sat at the head of the table.

"Meat?" Bartholomew replied, "We are all vegetarians. We don't eat meat of any kind."

"Oh…" Alex replied, not making any effort to hide his sadness. This was not the kind of feast he had expected.

"So why the brown tunics?" John asked, picking up a fresh pear.

"We wear brown to represent that we are one with nature, my father founded this tribe many years ago because he felt a strong connection with the earth. When he passed, I took over as leader of the tribe." Bartholomew answered after draining his bowl of soup. "He started the brown tunic natural look, and we all follow true to that tradition."

"Okay." John said blatantly, taking a bite out of the pear.

"So, how many badges do you boys have?" Bartholomew inquired.

"None yet, but that's why we're heading to Pewter City." Alex replied. John had made Alex promise not to say anything about the Pokédex to anyone in this village for fear that they might try to take it.

"I see." With that, Bartholomew stood up, clearing his throat to get the attention of everyone at the table. Everyone looked at Bartholomew, or at least John thought, he couldn't see anyone's eyes.

"Attention everyone!" Bartholomew's voice boomed, causing Alex to spill the soup that he was eating. "As you are all aware, we have two visitors with us tonight! They are trainers from Pallet Town! And as tradition holds true, you know what must happen tomorrow at noon!"

"Pokémon Battle!" they all cheered in union, throwing their fists into the air. Now it was John's turn to spill the soup he was eating.

"Wait, what!?"

"A Pokémon battle!" Bartholomew said, looking to John. "This tribe may not look it, but we are an Unofficial Gym. We've had twenty-eight battles with trainers so far, two more and we get recognized as an official gym by the Pokémon league!"

"Well this isn't an official gym, so we shall not be participating." John said, returning to his soup.

"We've had people like you that say they won't participate, but they all participate in the end because we don't lower the drawbridge until you win in a battle against us." John spit his soup out. He stood us, curling his hands into fists. Alex quickly jumped up, holding John back.

"We accept!" Alex exclaimed, "What are the terms to your gym?" Bartholomew smiles wide.

"Standard rules. We do a three against three battle with the contender being able to switch Pokémon freely."

"Jokes on you, Alex has two Pokémon and I only have one." John snickered. Whispers spread across the table, John knew he had him beat. Bartholomew thought for a moment, stroking his beard.

"We shall make an exception to the rule!" he bellowed, "The gym leader shall face both visitors with a one on one match!" Cheers came from the table yet again, with John glaring at Alex.

"Why would you agree to this!?" John said, pacing around the hut that Bartholomew allowed them to spend the night in.

"That's the only way we are getting out of here, so why not?" Alex said, laying on the bed with his arms behind his head, eyes closed. "Besides, it'll be good experience before the real gym."

"I guess, but we don't even know what kind of gym this is!" John said, plopping down on his bed. "What do we have? An Eevee, Cyndaquil, and a 'too-scared-to-battle' Budew."

"Well that Budew wouldn't be too scared to battle if you believed in it a little bit." Alex said, not moving from that position.

"Anyways," John continued, "this guy could be a fire type trainer, or an electric type. We don't know what Pokémon type he has."

"Well we shall find out tomorrow then, won't we?" Alex replied, yawning as he spoke. Before John could say anything, Alex began snoring softly. John lay down on the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling.

'Better hope he's got a bunch of grass or bug types…' John thought, before passing out.

"Are the contestants ready!?" Timothy called out to John and Alex. The table in the mess hall had been moved out of the way to reveal a battle arena drawn into the ground with white chalk. On the other side stood Bartholomew.

"Ready!" Alex beamed.

"Is the gym leader ready!?"

"I am Timothy." Bartholomew replied.

"This battle will not be timed. It will be three Pokémon each, one against one with only the contestants being able to freely switch their Pokémon. With that, let the battle begin!" A roar from the crowd around the arena vibrated through the hall. John and Alex had decided that Alex would go first.

"Eevee, let's go!" Alex yelled as he threw the Pokéball into the air. It exploded open with a white flash which took on the shape of Alex's Eevee. The brown fox looked determined to battle and do well.

"Flabébé, I summon thee!" Bartholomew said, tossing the Pokéball on the ground. It exploded open with a white flash. When the light subsided, a small white creature standing on a blue flower floated in midair.

"Alright Alex, beware, it's a Fairy type."

* _Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. Flabébé chooses a favorite flower at the beginning of its life and takes care of it from then on._ *

"Do you ever not use that thing?" John asked rhetorically.

"Eevee, Quick Attack!" Alex commanded. Eevee's body outlined briefly in white before darting forward at a tremendous speed.

"Flabébé use Double Team." Bartholomew said. Flabébé body glowed white for a moment before separating into multiple Flabébés. Eevee dashed through a Flabébé, causing it to vanish. Several more Flabébé's covered the field. Eevee looked confused.

"Why are there so many of them!?" Alex exclaimed to John.

"It's Double Team," John replied, "it creates illusionary copies of the Pokémon using it. It's an evasive move."

"Flabébé, Razor Leaf." The many Flabébé clones spun around, launching green glowing leaves at Eevee.

"Ah! Eevee, Protect!" Alex hastily commanded. Eevee raised it's head, creating a dome of green energy around itself. The leaves exploded on contact, creating dust around the Protect dome. "Eevee, Swift in all directions!" A yellow flash shone through the dust and then countless yellow stars flew out in all directions, hitting all of the Flabébés. All of the Flabébés except one vanished, with one falling down to the ground.

"Wow, not a bad strategy…" John remarked.

"Actually, I didn't even think of that, I was just trying to clear the dust…" Alex confessed.

"Really?" John asked, glaring at Alex.

"Impressive." Bartholomew beamed. "But not enough. Flabébé, Synthesis." Flabébé straightened up, hovering just above the ground. Tiny spheres of yellow light began floating down upon it. After enough of these spheres landed on Flabébé, it flashed yellow for an instant and looked healthier and more fit to battle.

"Wait, what!?" Alex said, looking confused.

"Synthesis. It's a grass type move that will heal the user by a quarter of their health, half of it if it's really sunny outside." John answered. "But this is going to be difficult now… Your Eevee can't do enough damage to knock it out in one hit and it can heal up whatever damage you do to it…"

"Well that's not cool…" Alex said, "how are we suppose to beat it?"

"I have no idea…" John said, staring at the Flabébé that was now dancing around on it's flower.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Loser's Chance

CHAPTER 5 - _A Loser's Chance_

"Eevee, Protect!" Alex shouted. Eevee's protect went off just in time to defend against the onslaught of leaves showering from the opposing Flabébé.

"Alex, you can't keep playing the defensive, you have to attack." John said, watching Eevee jump over another set of leaves.

"I know that, but I can't hit it!" Alex said through clenched teeth. "It either uses Double Team to avoid the attack or Synthesis to heal whenever I hit it." John thought for a moment, this was a tough match up, for sure. Fairy types are weak to poison, that much he knew, but his Budew wasn't useful.

"Hmm…" John pondered. Bartholomew, getting bored of the battle, decided to start cleaning his ears as he issued commands.

"Time to spice things up," Bartholomew said, shifting his feet slightly. "Flabébé, Fairy Wind." Flabébé floated high into the air, dancing on it's flower as it did. Once it reached peak height, it angled the stem of its flower at Eevee, casting a pink gust of wind towards it. It hit Eevee, sending it into the air.

"I got it!" Alex said, tapping his fist onto the palm of his other hand. "Eevee, Swift!" Eevee somersaulted, it's tail glowing as it did. A flick of it's tail and multiple yellow stars shot out towards Flabébé. They exploded upon impact. "Quickly Eevee, use Quick Attack!" Eevee shot out at max speed, slamming into the little Pokémon. It reeled back, struggling to stay afloat.

"Well played," Bartholomew said, admiration filling his face, "now you're battling!"

"Thanks! Now, Eevee, Quick Attack once more!" Eevee ran out once more, charging at the Flabébé.

"Simple moves," Bartholomew said, scratching his chin. "Double Team, let's go."

'Why didn't he use Synthesis?' John wondered to himself. 'He could have healed his Pokémon up… unless Flabébé can't use Synthesis anymore. That must have been Alex's plan the whole time.'

'Huh…' Alex thought to himself, 'why isn't he using Synthesis?'

"This is it. Flabébé, Razor Leaf followed by Fairy Wind!" Flabébé launched several glowing leaves followed immediately by a pink gust of wind. They both hit Eevee, sending it flying backwards to where John and Alex stood.

"Eevee!" Alex shouted out, staring at his Eevee on the ground. Swirls took the place of it eyes, indicating that it was knocked out.

"Eevee is no longer able to battle, Flabébé wins!" Timothy announced. Alex pulled out Eevee's Pokéball, sending a beam of red light at Eevee, turning it into a mass of red energy that receded into the Pokéball.

"Good job Eevee, you did great." Alex smiled, looking at the Pokéball. He then pulled out another Pokéball, looking to John. John shook his head. Alex pulled his arm back.

"Cyndaquil, I choose you!" The ball was thrown into the air, exploding in white. When the light subsided, the Fire mouse stood on the ground. It curled its arms, shaking for a moment. Out of the four red spots on its back, flames erupted, igniting its whole back in flames.

"Oho, a Cyndaquil. Been a while since I've seen that little one." Bartholomew said, stroking his beard.

"The second match between Flabébé and Cyndaquil will now begin!"

"Flabébé, Synthesis." Flabébé absorbed sunlight, looking refreshed.

"He was baiting you to attack with Eevee so he could finish it off." John observed. Alex curled his hands into fists, anger appearing on his face. This was the first time John had seen Alex like this.

"Cyndaquil, use Ember!" Alex commanded. Cyndaquil placed it's arms on the ground, shooting sparks of flames at Flabébé. They landed, doing damage to the Flabébé. "Don't stop there, Tackle!" Cyndaquil darted forward with impressive speed, crashing into the Flabébé.

"Not bad, your Cyndaquil is fast." Bartholomew marveled. Alex smirked, he knew what he was doing this time.

"Thanks, your Flabébé's quite the challenge." Alex replied, "But it's going down to my Cyndaquil." Bartholomew laughed, the sound echoing around the room.

"A lot of confidence! I like it! Let's see what you've got!"

"You got it." Alex replied, a new found fire burning inside. "Cyndaqil, Smokescreen!" Cyndaquil spewed a thick cloud of black smoke from it's mouth, covering all visibility between itself and Flabébé. "Use Ember and follow up with Tackle to finish it off!" From the smoke, sparks of flames shot out, hitting Flabébé, making it falter on it's flower. Close behind, Cyndaquil shot out from the smoke, slamming into it, sending it flying backwards to Bartholomew where it landed on the ground. Swirls replaced it eyes.

"Flabébé is unable to battle, Cyndaquil wins!" Cyndaquil triumphantly jumped into the air, doing a backflip.

"Alright! Way to go Cyndaquil!" Bartholomew returned Flabébé to it's Pokéball.

"That was some strategy to use smoke to cover your attacks. But it won't help you with this next one!" He threw another Pokéball into the air. "Zigzagoon, I summon thee!" The ball exploded in white. When the light faded, a brown and tan raccoon looking Pokemon with spiky hair all over it's body appeared. It had a black mask that encased it's small, brown eyes.

* _Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon. Zigzag is extremely curious and so ends up walking in a zigzag path between things that interest it._ *

"Alex, stop using that thing, it's getting annoying." John growled.

"Professor Oak said to scan every Pokémon, so that's what I'm doing." Alex replied.

"The next match between Zigzagoon and Cyndaquil will now begin!"

"Let's start this match up right, Cyndaquil, Ember!" Cyndaquil crouched down and shot sparks of flames out from it's mouth at the Raccoon Pokémon.

"Zigzagoon, Sand-Attack." The Raccoon Pokémon turned back to face it's trainer. With it's back legs it scrapped at the ground, sending sand backwards towards Cyndaquil. It intercepted the flames, snuffing them out. "Follow up with Tackle." The Zigzagoon spun back around and charged towards Cyndaquil, slamming into it. Cyndaquil reeled backwards, landing on it's back.

"Cyndaquil, get up and use Tackle yourself!" Alex commanded. Cyndaquil flipped back onto it's feet, charging at the Zigzagoon as it did.

"Zigzagoon, dodge and use Toxic." The Zigzagoon strafed to the left, shooting a purple mist out of it's mouth as it did so. Cyndaquil charged through the mist, sliding to a halt. The Fire Mouse then fell to its knees, small purple bubbles rising up from it's body.

"What's going on?" Alex said, staring curiously at his Cyndaquil

"It's Poisoned, Toxic poisons all types of Pokémon except Poison and Steel types. Some Pokémon have the Immunity ability that prevents them from being Poisoned." John replied. "Your Cyndaquil is slowly losing health each second you stare at it." Alex's eyes widened.

"Then we have to wrap this up! Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!" Cyndaquil puffed a cloud of black smoke, encasing it. "Let's hit him with the Ember-Tackle combo!"

"Please come up with a better name than that…" John replied as sparks of flames shot out from the smoke with Cyndaquil running in the flames. "Although that looks like a Flame Charge." The Zigzagoon was sent flying back by the impact of both moves. It flipped and landed back on it's feet. Cyndaquil fell yet again to its knees, suffering from the poison.

"Your strategies are getting old, boy." Bartholomew called, "Zigzagoon, Headbutt!" Zigzagoon charged at Cyndaquil, smashing into it with it's head. Cyndaquil flipped into the air, flying high above their heads. It plummeted towards the ground, bouncing once and landing on its stomach.

"Getting old, huh?" Alex muttered to himself. "Cyndaquil, Tackle!" Cyndaquil charged towards the Zigzagoon again.

"Bold move, Zigzagoon, intercept with Headbutt!" Zigzagoon charged at Cyndaquil yet again, but before he made contact, Alex shouted out a surprise command.

"Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!" Cyndaquil expelled smoke just as the Raccoon Pokémon made contact with it. A trail of smoke followed Cyndaquil into the air, making a pillar of smoke as it flew. "Cyndaquil, Ember-Tackle combo down the trail of smoke!" The smoke lit up at the top with an orange-red glow that rocketed down the smoke until it reached the ground, where the Zigzagoon still stood. As Cyndaquil backflipped out of the smoke, the Zigzagoon flew out from the other side, landing on the ground with swirls in its eyes. Cyndaquil cheered triumphantly before falling to the ground with swirls in its own eyes.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! It's a draw!"

"Alright John," Alex said, returning Cyndaquil to it's Pokéball. "it's up to you now."

"Oh yeah, up to me," John replied sarcastically, "me and my Budew that's too scared to battle!"

"Try to trust it, maybe it's a powerhouse." Alex said with hope in his voice. John glared at him, taking Budew's Pokéball out.

"Fine. Budew, go." he tossed the Pokéball onto the ground. It exploded in light. The light cleared and John's Budew stood on the ground.

"Oho, a Budew?" Bartholomew admired, "Haven't battled one of them before." He took out his final Pokéball, throwing it into the air. "Machop, I summon thee!" After the light subsided, a small gray skinned humanoid Pokémon stood there with red eyes and three fin-like plates on it's head. It's tail was short with a point at the end.

* _Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. Macho have muscles that never tire no matter how much they exercise. Machop have enough strength to throw one-hundred average sized adults._ *

"Alex, stop!"

"The final match between Budew and Machop will now begin!"

"Machop, Focus Energy." Bartholomew called out. Machop tensed up, flexing it's muscles.

"John, give Budew a command." Alex told John, who's hands were now in his pockets.

"It doesn't know any attacks." John coldly replied. "And even if it does, it's a scared Pokémon. Just look at what happened with the Rhyhorn."

"Machop, Karate Chop." The Superpower Pokémon's arm began to glow white as it rushed at the Budew. It then chopped at Budew with it's glowing arm, sending it rolling back towards John and Alex.

"John!" Alex yelled, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close to his face. "Have your Budew attack! Don't tell me 'The Great Son of Ash Ketchum' is a weakling!" John glared, swatting his arm away.

"Fine," John replied coldly. Thinking up a random move, John called out one. "Budew, Magical Leaf." Budew smiled, leaping high into the air.

"Woah!" Alex shouted, looking up at the Budew. "I was not expecting it to jump that high!" Budew began spinning rapidly, releasing multiple high speed white leaves from it's body. They exploded upon impact with the Machop, sending it flying onto it's back. Budew landed gracefully onto the ground as the Machop picked itself up back to its feet.

"Oho, that's a special Budew, they can't normally use Magical Leaf." Bartholomew speculated.

"I didn't even know it could do that." John replied, just as surprised.

"Well keep having it use that!" Alex said, pointing at the Budew.

"Machop, Low Kick." Machop ran towards Budew, sliding feet first along the ground when it came within striking distance. Budew flew into the air, landing hard next to John's feet. The Machop's body produced small purple bubbles. "Oho, Poison Point as an ability. Not bad." Bartholomew commented. "Shame my Machop's ability is No Guard and not Guts."

"Okay, now it's a game of stalling before the poison knocks it out." John said, slipping his hands back into his pockets.

"John, call out an attack, I don't think your Budew can take much more." Alex replied, the Budew struggling to stand.

"Fine. Budew, Magical Leaf, let's go." Budew leapt into the air yet again, spinning as it did so. It released a flurry of white leaves that exploded upon contact with the Machop that flew back past Bartholomew into the wall. Swirls replaced its eyes as it fell to the ground.

"Machop is unable to battle, the winner is Budew!" John pulled out Budew's Pokéball, returning Budew. Bartholomew walked over to John and Alex, a smile stretched across his face.

"That was a great battle gentlemen. Haven't seen a battle like that in years."

"Okay, anyways," John said, pointing a thumb behind him. "we win so drop the drawbridge."

"Oho, not so fast young one." Bartholomew said. "That Budew of yours is truly something else. Any chance you want to trade for it?" John's face lit up.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll tr-" Alex stepped in between them.

"His Budew is not for trade and it's against Pokémon Regulations for a Trainer to trade when they only have one Pokémon." Alex said, looking between John and Bartholomew.

"Alex, what are you doing?" John hissed.

"You'll thank me later John. Now if you could lower the gate, we'll be on our way." The gate keepers lowered the drawbridge and Alex and John walked out, back into Viridian Forest.

"Why would you do that?" John skulked, kicking a small rock.

"It's against League rules for you to trade if you only have one Pokémon." Alex said, "Also Professor Oak and your father told me not to let you trade that Budew."

"Well good luck doing that, I'm heading out." John said, stomping off. He shortly turned around and walked back to Alex. "As soon as you lead me to Pewter City, and then I'm heading off without you."

"Fine." Alex sighed, "Follow me."


End file.
